A cooler of this type has been disclosed in particular in French Pat. No. 876 525.
Coolers of this type have an application in particular in the cooling of water used in electric power generating stations. At the present time, in thee coolers, the shell in the shape of a tower rests on oblique pillars which are rigid with one another. Moreover, in these coolers, the water to be cooled arrives at the center of the tower and is collected, after streaming, by the channels which return the cooled water toward the center of the tower from which it is discharged.
The use of oblique pillars has not been found to be a completely satisfactory means for supporting cooling towers particularly in locations where the ground has an uneven stability, as differential subsidence is liable to occur which results in inclination of the tower.
It has been proposed to overcome this problem by the use of independent piles which are evenly spaced apart on the periphery of the tower. However, the presence of a central cooled water discharge pan limits the gas and liquid contacting zone and the supply of air under this zone. Central water discharge also gives rise to hydraulic problems in particular owing to the whirling of the collected liquid which tends to occur in the collecting pan.
Moreover, the presence of the central water discharge pan is a great hindrance to mounting of the contact devices inside the coolers and in maintenance operations.
Further, the location of the valves for by-passing liquid from the inlet of the hot water to the outlet of the cold water makes the valves difficult to reach.